THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 15, 1996 TAG: 9603150441
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
Vice Adm. Richard C. ``Sweet Pea'' Allen waited until he knew the carrier America would almost be at the pier before he drove to the Navy's waterfront to greet sailors returning from six months in the Mediterranean.
It was one of the few moments in his nearly 37-year career that he found a little time to spend alone. He wanted to see the old gal by himself.
``I watched them make their final tie-up,'' he said of the Feb. 24 homecoming, just prior to his scheduled retirement today.
The America, which Allen once commanded, was returning from its last deployment. It, too, is scheduled to be retired.
``You sit there with a lot of thoughts running through your mind,'' he said. ``Wow, what a privilege to have even been there and served on her.
``It was sort of bittersweet to realize you are asking the ship to come home for the last time. It was a real sad day.''
Retirements are not the happiest of times for Allen, ending more than three decades of service as an aviator and ship commander. He leaves as the commander of the Atlantic Fleet Naval Air Force, where he was responsible for more than 50,000 personnel, 1,350 aircraft and seven carriers.
His retirement and command change ceremony will be held aboard the America at 11 a.m. today.
Vice Adm. John J. Mazach, who comes from the Pentagon, where he served as director for strategy and policy, will become the new AIRLANT commander. He is a fighter and attack pilot who also commanded the America.
The America keeps coming back as the center point of Allen's career, he said.
``I can't believe America is being retired. It gave us 31 years of great and faithful service.
``Where better could one serve his country than in the ship that bears the country's name?''
Also winding down is Allen's old plane, the A-6 Intruder, scheduled for retirement from the fleet next year. He served for more than 20 years in four Intruder squadrons, commanding Attack Squadron 85 out of Oceana before becoming an air wing commander.
He's already seen one of his first planes, the A-4 Skyhawk, which he flew in Vietnam, leave active service.
But that's progress, he said as he began listing a litany of new programs, planes and ships waiting for tomorrow's sailors.
The new ``E'' and ``F'' models of the F/A-18 Hornets that the Navy plans to introduce to the fleet by 1999 will give carrier aviation new muscle, he said.
The ``F'' model is the two-seat version and will be used to replace the F-14 Tomcat as it leaves the fleet after the turn of the century. The ``E'' models will be used to replace the ``C'' models currently in the fleet.
Plans in the 1997 defense budget call for the purchase of six ``E'' models and six ``F'' models, with procurement increasing in subsequent years.
``The Hornet squadrons will dominate our carrier flight decks until we get JAST (Joint Advanced Strike Technology aircraft) in the year 2008 to 2010. ``Then it will be a mix of Hornets and JAST and whatever follows beyond . . . wherever new technology will take us.''
Likewise, the newest Nimitz-class carriers - the Harry S Truman, Ronald Reagan, the unnamed CVN-77 and projected CVN-78 - will be the nuclear-powered platforms designed to last more than 50 years.
Tie all that to the new Arleigh Burke destroyers, new SSN-23 attack submarines, the Osprey vertical take-off and landing aircraft and other innovations that have been approved, and the Navy's future is bright, said Allen.
``There is a great future out there for our youngsters,'' he said.
That includes one that is incredibly safe, despite recent aviation accidents that have grabbed the headlines, said Allen.
The Atlantic Fleet remains free of accidents for 1996, although two Marine Corps crashes occurred last week. However, there have been no Navy accidents among East Coast-based squadrons.
``We finished 1995 with 1.13 accidents per 100,000 flying hours,'' said Allen. ``That was a reduction from 2.56 in 1994.''
It was the second-best year in his command's history.
By comparison, in 1959 when Allen was getting his aviation wings, the Navy's accident rate was 13.2. That year it lost 461 planes and had 309 fatalities. Last year it lost 34 planes and had 16 fatalities.
In studying the rash of accidents attributed to West Coast-based squadrons, Allen said investigators have found ``no common thread'' that explains the reason why the crashes are happening.
Also ahead for the Navy's aviation community is a career without the ugliness of Tailhook, said Allen.
``I think we need to make a statement that Tailhook is over,'' he said of the aviators' convention in Las Vegas that resulted in assaults on women, ruined careers and perhaps the biggest embarrassment in the Navy's history.
``That was '91 and this is '96. It was nearly five years ago,'' he said.
It was a past ``that we are not particularly proud of'' but ``we have made vast improvements in people's mind-set, in ensuring proper conduct, in ethical conduct and standards.
``I truly believe . . . that what I see today is a very dedicated work force; that 99 percent plus are trying their absolute best to do their business the right way. We will always have that less than one percent to make headlines, to cause us to look inward how we do our business.
``But I truly believe in my heart of hearts that Tailhook is long past.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
JIM WALKER/The Virginian-Pilot
Vice Adm. Richard C. Allen served 37 years and retires today from
AIRLANT command.
by CNB